NBCUniversal

NBCUniversal puts the spotlight on social collaboration

Media companies have weathered their share of dramatic changes in recent years: the growing number of media outlets competing for viewer attention, the increased popularity of online media, new types of advertising, and so on. For large media corporations like NBCUniversal these changes present a powerful opportunity to offer advertisers a wide variety of ad and product placements.

NBCUniversal is the powerhouse behind 20 popular media and entertainment brands, including CNBC, Bravo, Universal Pictures, iVillage, and Telemundo. With so many diverse media properties—representing a collective 2 million ads per year—it's easy to get disconnected without the right tools. "As business moves into the 21st century, you need social collaboration tools to pull everything together," says Eric Johnson, Vice President of Sales Force Effectiveness. "Salesforce helps capture the collaboration that's happening across the company—to mobilize and grow the business."

Disparate teams connect on their own internal social network to manage those 2 million ads and to collaborate more effectively around customers. Previously, the company had 256 different views into one of its major advertisers. Today, Salesforce provides a single view, so everyone can see what each advertiser is doing on other properties. And that means better relationships with important clients and a dramatic increase in cross-sales.

Social tools earn fans throughout the organization

Sales reps are more connected than ever—and they love it. "The collaboration with marketing in the first six months was meteoric," says Dan Sztorc, CNBC Account Executive. He and his colleagues also love taking the collaboration on the road with their new tablets. "We're free to venture out and try different things and take some three-point shots."

In an industry that changes as quickly as media, the freedom to innovate is critical. For example, when the NBCUniversal marketing team comes up with new advertising and product placement opportunities, they can use social tools to quickly provide the sales teams with everything they need to sell the new inventory. "Social collaboration and social networking—they're here to stay," says Eric Johnson.

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